Fodder scam case: Sentencing for Lalu Prasad, 14 others on Friday

The Ranchi Special CBI court on Thursday said that it will pronounce the quantum of sentencing for Lalu Prasad Yadav and other convicts in the fodder scam case on Friday.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and 14 others were convicted on December 23 in a case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 84.5 lakh from the Deoghar district treasury between 1990 and 1994.

During the hearing, the Ranchi Special CBI Court judge had earlier asked lawyers, other than those related to the case to leave the courtroom.

CBI lawyer had requested the judge to give maximum sentence to the accused so that 'no one tries to commit such a heinous crime'.

During the proceedings, the court said that Bihar vigilance Director General, Janata Dal (United) leader Jagdish Sharma and former Bihar Director General of Police DP Ojha are the main masterminds in the scam.

Earlier on January 3, the court deferred the matter due to the demise of advocate Vindeshwari Prasad. The court also found Lalu`s son Tejasvi Yadav and other party leaders Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Manoj Jha guilty of contempt of court.

Lalu has been convicted in one of the cases of the fodder scam, wherein Rs 900 crore from the Bihar exchequer was siphoned off under the pretext of purchasing fodder for livestock, during the 1980s and 1990s.